'\" t
.TH groff_me 7 "5 December 2024" "groff 1.23.0"
.SH Name
groff_me \- \(lqme\(rq macro package for formatting
.I roff
documents
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.\" Legal Terms
.\" ====================================================================
.\"
.\" Copyright (C) 1980, 1993
.\"   The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in
.\"    the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
.\"    distribution.
.\" 3. [Deleted.  See
.\"     ftp://ftp.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/4bsd/README.Impt.License.Change]
.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its
.\"    contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
.\"    from this software without specific prior written permission.
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
.\" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
.\" TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
.\" PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR
.\" CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
.\" SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
.\" LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF
.\" USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
.\" ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,
.\" OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT
.\" OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\"	@(#)me.7	8.1 (Berkeley) 06/05/93
.\"
.\" Modified for groff by jjc@jclark.com
.\" Changed to use TBL and eliminate low-level troff hackery by ESR
.\" (this enables it to be lifted to structural markup).
.
.
.\" Save and disable compatibility mode (for, e.g., Solaris 10/11).
.do nr *groff_groff_me_7_man_C \n[.cp]
.cp 0
.
.\" Define fallback for groff 1.23's MR macro if the system lacks it.
.nr do-fallback 0
.if !\n(.f           .nr do-fallback 1 \" mandoc
.if  \n(.g .if !d MR .nr do-fallback 1 \" older groff
.if !\n(.g           .nr do-fallback 1 \" non-groff *roff
.if \n[do-fallback]  \{\
.  de MR
.    ie \\n(.$=1 \
.      I \%\\$1
.    el \
.      IR \%\\$1 (\\$2)\\$3
.  .
.\}
.rr do-fallback
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH Synopsis
.\" ====================================================================
.
.SY "groff \-me"
.RI [ option\~ .\|.\|.\&]
.RI [ file\~ .\|.\|.]
.
.SY "groff \-m me"
.RI [ option\~ .\|.\|.\&]
.RI [ file\~ .\|.\|.]
.YS
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH Description
.\" ====================================================================
.
The GNU implementation of the
.I me
macro package is part of the
.I groff
document formatting system.
.
The
.I me
package of macro definitions for the
.I roff
language provides a convenient facility for preparing technical papers
in various formats.
.
This version is based on the
.I me
distributed with 4.4BSD and can be used with the GNU
.I troff
formatter as well as those descended from AT&T
.IR troff .
.
.
.P
Some formatter requests affect page layout unpredictably when used in
conjunction with this package;
however,
the following may be used with impunity after the first call to a
paragraphing macro like
.B lp
or
.BR pp .
.
Some arguments are optional;
see
.MR groff 7
for details,
particularly of requests whose argument list is designated with an
ellipsis.
.
An asterisk
.B *
marks
.I groff
extensions.
.
.
.P
.TS
Lb1 Li L.
ad	c	set text adjustment mode to \fIc
af	r f	assign format \fIf\fP to register \fIr
am	m e	append to macro \fIm\fP until \fIe\fP called
as	s t	append rest of line \fIt\fP to string \fIs
bp	n	begin new page numbered \fIn
br	\&	break output line
ce	n	center next \fIn\fP output lines
cp	n	en-/disable AT&T \fItroff\fP compatibility mode\fB*
de	m e	define macro \fIm\fP until \fIe\fP called
do	t	interpret input \fIt\fP with compatibility mode off\fB*
ds	s t	define rest of line \fIt\fP as string \fIs
el	t	interpret \fIt\fP if corresponding \fBie\fP false
fc	c d	set field delimiter \fIc\fP and padding glyph \fId
fi	\&	enable filling
hc	c	set hyphenation character to \fIc
hy	m	set automatic hyphenation mode to \fIm
ie	p t	as \fBif\fP, but enable interpretation of later \fBel
if	p t	if condition \fIp\/\fP, interpret rest of line \fIt
in	h	set indentation to distance \fIh\fP
lc	c	set leader repetition glyph to \fIc
ls	n	set line spacing to \fIn
mc	c h	set (right) margin glyph to \fIc\fP at distance \fIh
mk	r	mark vertical position in register \fIr\fP
na	\&	disable adjustment of text
ne	v	need vertical space of distance \fIv
nf	\&	disable filling
nh	\&	disable automatic hyphenation
nr	r n i	assign register \fIr\fP value \fIn\fP with \
auto-increment \fIi
ns	\&	begin no-space mode
pl	v	set page length to \fIv
pn	n	set next page number to \fIn
po	h	set page offset to \fIh
rj	n	right-align next \fIn\fP output lines\fB*
rm	m	remove macro, string, or request \fIm
rn	m n	rename macro, string, or request \fIm\fP to \fIn
rr	r	remove register \fIr
rs	\&	resume spacing (end no-space mode)
rt	v	return to vertical position set by \fBmk\fP, or \fIv
so	f	source (interpolate) input file \fIf
sp	n	insert \fIn\fP lines of vertical space
ta	\fR.\|.\|.	set tab stops
tc	c	set tab repetition glyph to \fIc
ti	h	set temporary indentation (next line only) to \fIh
tl	\fR.\|.\|.	output three-part title
tr	\fR.\|.\|.	translate characters
ul	n	underline next \fIn\fP output lines
.TE
.
.
.P
Except on title pages
(produced by calling
.BR tp ),
.I me
suppresses the output of vertical space at the tops of pages
(after the output of any page header);
the
.B sp
request will thus not work there.
.
You can instead call
.B bl
or enclose the desired spacing request in a diversion,
for instance by calling
.B (b
and
.BR )b .
.
.I me
also intercepts the
.B ll
request;
see the
.RI \[lq] me
Reference Manual\[rq]
for details.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS "Name space"
.\" ====================================================================
.
Objects in
.I me
follow a rigid naming convention.
.
To avoid conflict,
any user-defined register,
string,
or macro
names should be single numerals or uppercase letters,
or any longer sequence of letters and numerals
with at least one uppercase letter.
.
(For portability between BSD and
.I groff
.IR me ,
limit names to
two characters,
and avoid the name
.B [
(left square bracket).)
.
The names employed
by any preprocessors in use
should also not be repurposed.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS Macros
.\" ====================================================================
.
.ne 2v \" Keep at least the first entry together with the heading.
.TS
Lb L.
$0	post-section heading hook
$1	pre-section depth 1 hook
$2	pre-section depth 2 hook
$3	pre-section depth 3 hook
$4	pre-section depth 4 hook
$5	pre-section depth 5 hook
$6	pre-section depth 6 hook
$C	post-chapter title hook
$H	page/column heading hook
$c	output chapter number and title
$f	output footer
$h	output header
$p	output section heading
$s	output footnote area separator
(b	begin block
(c	begin centered block
(d	begin delayed text
(f	begin footnote
(l	begin list
(q	begin long quotation
(x	begin index entry
(z	begin floating keep
)b	end block
)c	end centered block
)d	end delayed text
)f	end footnote
)l	end list
)q	end long quotation
)x	end index entry
)z	end floating keep
++	set document segment type
+c	begin chapter
1c	end multi-column layout
2c	begin multi-column layout
EN	end \fI\%eqn\fP equation
EQ	begin \fI\%eqn\fP equation
GE	end \fI\%grn\fP picture with drawing position at bottom
GF	end \fI\%grn\fP picture with drawing position at top
GS	start \fI\%grn\fP picture
IE	end \fIideal\fP picture with drawing position at bottom
IF	end \fIideal\fP picture with drawing position at top
IS	start \fIideal\fP picture
PE	end \fI\%pic\fP picture with drawing position at bottom
PF	end \fI\%pic\fP picture with drawing position at top
PS	start \fI\%pic\fP picture
TE	end \fI\%tbl\fP table
TH	end heading for multi-page \fI\%tbl\fP table
TS	start \fI\%tbl\fP table
b	embolden argument
ba	set base indentation
bc	begin new column
bi	embolden and italicize argument
bx	box argument
ef	set even-numbered page footer
eh	set even-numbered page header
ep	end page
fo	set footer
he	set header
hl	draw horizontal line
hx	suppress next page's headers/footers
i	italicize argument
ip	begin indented paragraph
ld	reset localization and date registers and strings\fB*
ll	set line length
lp	begin fully left-aligned paragraph
np	begin numbered paragraph
of	set odd-numbered page footer
oh	set odd-numbered page header
pd	output delayed text
pp	begin first-line indented paragraph
q	quote argument
r	set argument in roman
re	reset tab stops
sh	begin numbered section
sm	set argument at smaller type size
sx	change section depth
sz	set type size and vertical spacing
tp	begin title page
u	underline argument
uh	begin unnumbered section
xl	set line length (local)
xp	output index
.TE
.
.
.P
Some macros are provided for \(lqold\(rq
.MR roff 1
compatibility.
.
The
.RI \(lq me
Reference Manual\(rq
describes alternatives for modern documents.
.
.
.P
.ne 2v \" Keep at least the first entry together with the heading.
.TS
Lb L.
ar	use Arabic numerals for page numbers
bl	insert space (even at page top; cf.\& \fBsp\fP)
ix	set indentation without break
m1	set page top to header distance
m2	set header to text distance
m3	set text to footer distance
m4	set footer to page bottom distance
n1	begin output line numbering
n2	end or alter output line numbering
pa	begin page
ro	use Roman numerals for page numbers
sk	skip next page
.TE
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS Registers
.\" ====================================================================
.
.ne 2v \" Keep at least the first entry together with the heading.
.TS
Lb L.
$0	section depth
$1	first section number component
$2	second section number component
$3	third section number component
$4	fourth section number component
$5	fifth section number component
$6	sixth section number component
$c	current column number
$d	delayed text number
$f	footnote number
$i	paragraph base indentation
$l	column width
$m	number of available columns
$p	numbered paragraph number
$s	column spacing (indentation)
bi	display (block) indentation
bm	distance from text area to page bottom
bs	display (block) pre/post space
bt	block threshold for keeps
ch	current chapter number
df	display font
dv	vertical spacing of displayed text (as percentage)\fB*
es	equation pre/post space
ff	footnote font
fi	footnote indentation (first line only)
fm	footer margin
fp	footnote type size in points
fs	footnote prespace
fu	footnote undent (right indentation)
hm	header margin
ii	indented paragraph indentation
no	line numbering offset\fB*
pf	paragraph font
pi	paragraph indentation
po	page offset
pp	paragraph type size in points
ps	paragraph prespace
qi	long quotation left/right indentation
qp	long quotation type size in points
qs	long quotation pre/post space
sf	section title font
si	section indentation per level of depth
so	additional section title offset
sp	section title type size in points
ss	section prespace
sx	super/subscript line height increase\fB*
tf	title font
tm	distance from page top to text area
tp	title type size in points
tv	vertical spacing of text (as percentage)\fB*
xs	index entry prespace
xu	index undent (right indentation)
y2	year of the century\fB*
y4	year\fB*
yr	year minus 1900
zs	floating keep pre/post space
.TE
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SS Strings
.\" ====================================================================
.
.ne 2v \" Keep at least the first entry together with the heading.
.TS
Lb L.
#	delayed text marker
$n	concatenated section number
*	footnote marker
\-	em dash
<	begin subscripting
>	end subscripting
dw	weekday name
lq	left double quotation mark
mo	month name
rq	right double quotation mark
td	date
wa	term for \(lqappendix\(rq used by \fB.$c*
wc	term for \(lqchapter\(rq used by \fB.$c*
{	begin superscripting
}	end superscripting
.TE
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH Files
.\" ====================================================================
.
.TP
.I /usr/\:\%share/\:\%groff/\:\%1.23.0/\:\%tmac/e.tmac
implements the package.
.
.
.TP
.I /usr/\:\%share/\:\%groff/\:\%1.23.0/\:\%tmac/refer\-me.tmac
implements
.MR \%refer 1
support for
.IR me .
.
.
.TP
.I /usr/\:\%share/\:\%groff/\:\%1.23.0/\:\%tmac/me.tmac
is a wrapper enabling the package to be loaded with
.RB \[lq] "groff \-m me" \[rq].
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH Notes
.\" ====================================================================
.
Early
.I roff
macro packages often limited their names to a single letter,
which followed the formatter's
.B m
flag letter,
resulting in
.IR mm ,
.IR ms ,
.IR mv ,
.IR mn ,
and so on.
.
.\" 'When I started writing the -me macros it began as something in my
.\" private tree (I don't remember what I called it).  Then some other
.\" folks on the INGRES project wanted to use it, but our system admin
.\" at the time didn't want to dicker with the system namespace at the
.\" behest of a mere undergraduate, so he didn't like anything that was
.\" actually descriptive lest people think it was "official".  He
.\" finally consented to "-meric" (which I always hated), since it was
.\" obviously non-official.  By the time my macros became popular around
.\" Berkeley it got shortened to "-me", much to my relief.
.\"
.\" Of course, if AT&T had been willing to let Berkeley have -ms then
.\" most likely -me would never have happened at all.  Without a macro
.\" package, nroff/troff is basically unusable; -me stepped into the
.\" vacuum.' -- Eric Allman
.\"
.\" https://minnie.tuhs.org/pipermail/tuhs/2018-November/017033.html
.
The \(lqe\(rq in \(lqme\(rq stands for \(lqEric P.\& Allman\(rq,
who wrote the macro package and the original technical papers
documenting it while an undergraduate at the University of California.
.
.
.\" ====================================================================
.SH "See also"
.\" ====================================================================
.
.
Two manuals are available in source and rendered form.
.
On your system,
they may be compressed and/or available in additional formats.
.
.
.br
.ne 3v
.TP
.I /usr/\:\%share/\:\%doc/\:\%groff\-base/meintro.me
.TQ
.I /usr/\:\%share/\:\%doc/\:\%groff\-base/meintro.ps
is
\[lq]Writing Papers with
.I Groff
Using
.RI \- me \[rq],
by Eric P.\& Allman,
adapted for
.I groff
by James Clark.
.
.
.br
.ne 4v
.TP
.I /usr/\:\%share/\:\%doc/\:\%groff\-base/meref.me
.TQ
.I /usr/\:\%share/\:\%doc/\:\%groff\-base/meref.ps
is the
.RI \[lq] me
Reference Manual\[rq],
by Eric P.\& Allman,
adapted for
.I groff
by James Clark and G.\& Branden Robinson.
.
.
.P
.IR "Groff: The GNU Implementation of troff" ,
by Trent A.\& Fisher and Werner Lemberg,
is the primary
.I groff
manual.
.
You can browse it interactively with \[lq]info groff\[rq].
.
.
.P
For preprocessors supported by
.IR me ,
see
.MR \%eqn 1 ,
.MR \%grn 1 ,
.MR \%pic 1 ,
.MR \%refer 1 ,
and
.MR \%tbl 1 .
.
.
.P
.MR groff 1 ,
.MR \%troff 1 ,
.MR groff 7
.
.
.\" Restore compatibility mode (for, e.g., Solaris 10/11).
.cp \n[*groff_groff_me_7_man_C]
.do rr *groff_groff_me_7_man_C
.
.
.\" Local Variables:
.\" fill-column: 72
.\" mode: nroff
.\" End:
.\" vim: set filetype=groff textwidth=72:
